How to Grab the Attention of Your B2B Prospects? Relieve the Pain.

It takes about seven impressions for your brand to have any sort of mindshare with your ideal prospects. That’s what the late Jay Conrad Levinson stated in a keynote I attended a number of years ago. He followed up that statement with “but you have to recognize that two out of three times they’re not listening” when you communicate.

The reason they’re not listening is that your message is competing with a slew of other events such as – the recipient of your campaign is putting out a number of fires the moment your message lands in their inbox. Or they are down a staff person and are juggling an increased workload while trying to schedule interviews with prospective hires. Or a new project is launching and they are up to their armpits in executing to a deadline.

When it comes to B2B marketing, you must be patient and persistent. To combat the ‘time famine’ your prospects face, you must be dedicated to upping the value of your content and sharpening your calls to action to make them as appealing as possible. You have to provide messaging and calls to action that are worthy of their time.

“What if I told you one simple tool could save you 8 hours a month?”

Given the time famine your prospects face, doesn’t it make sense to offer relief to their pain?

Relieving their pain will get their attention. Providing them with ROI on the cost of the relief will help them lobby for change (purchase of your products and services).

The best way to get the limited attention of your prospects is to demonstrate that you understand the exact nature of the pain they experience – month in and month out. This is an emotional connection that causes them to pause and consider what you have to say.

Then take it a step further by giving them the rational data they need to make the change. Most of us aren’t willing to go to the management team and say, “I’m buried with processes that make my life a living hell. Let’s invest in the following products and services so that I can enjoy some semblance of a work-life balance.” We are willing to go to management with a proposal that will mean greater profitability in prescribed amount of time. Make it easy for them and provide them with the ROI so that they can champion the change.

Connect the dots for your prospects. If your products and services will be an enormous cause for relief, the prospect will be more likely be the catalyst for change – provided you give them the data to justify it.